The Cure
by easytoimagine
Summary: The Mystic Falls gang have the cure, Elena wants to be human but the only way for that to happen is if the originator of her bloodline takes the cure so all the vampires of that bloodline become human. The originator: Klaus-the Original hybrid who doesn't want the cure. That's just a teeny weeny problem they can overcome, right?...Oh btw Caroline doesn't want to be human either.
1. Chapter 1

**I know I should be updating my other stories but I just had a flash of inspiration for this and I needed to get this written since I've been having a bit of writer's block with my other stories and exams coming up. I needed some stress relief so here you go.**

**This is just a one-shot, ok maybe a two-shot depending on how I feel but I don't really have a plot to accompany this apart from what happens in this one-shot.**

**I hope you enjoy it and review to tell me what you think, should I continue, if I should then please give me some ideas for any further chapters. :D**

"If I asked you to run, to leave this town, right now, would you?"

"Give me a reason."

"They have the cure, they're going to use it on you. They have it all planned out and this time they can't be stopped. So I'm asking you, would you leave if I told you to go?"

Her eyes emanated a sadness that he had never seen before yet continued to hold strength in an otherwise impossible situation. Her body was trembling with fear and impatience whilst she remained rooted to the spot, she hadn't moved since she had entered and he knew she wasn't going to leave without an answer.

_**Earlier….**_

Katherine smirked as she placed the red vile into Stefan's hand curling it around the object so that his hold on it remained tight.

"Why?" Stefan asked curiously knowing that the woman before him wasn't being selfless-it wasn't possible for her- so there must be something that she was going to gain from this act of false kindness.

"The only way to turn Elena back to a human, you have to give the cure to the originator of her bloodline." Stefan's eyes widened as they flickered between the vial within his hold and the brunette. "And seeing as Klaus is the originator, well, that's taking down two birds with one stone. I despise Elena and I hate Klaus."

"Wouldn't that turn every vampire in his bloodline?" Katherine smirked as she released her fingers from his and stepped back.

"Yes and even if a cured vampire wanted to become a vampire again, they can't. The cure is named aptly. It keeps you a human, if you die that's it. You remain dead."

"What about you, I know you, you would never want to be human." Katherine grinned at how well he knew her.

"You're right. But I have a few tricks up my sleeve to ensure that I won't." She looked at her watch and pursed her lips. "I would stick around to watch the outcome but I have a plane to catch and marguerites to drink. Ciao." With that, Katherine gave them one final smirk and walked out of the house letting her six inch heels echo on the wooden steps.

Stefan tightened his hold on the cure and turned to face the others who stood behind him, half in confusion whilst the others were relieved except one whose heart stuttered as she heard Katherine's words.

"We need to get Klaus to take the cure." Elena whispered, her words echoing in the room as the fire crackled behind them, all eyes turned on her as she spoke. "It's the only choice we have."

Bonnie bit her lip and for once thought she was doing the right thing, Elena could be human and the vampire population-enemies of witches- would decrease. This was perfect, this was what the spirits had wanted all along, a world where witches wouldn't be ruled by vampires.

"He won't take it on his own, we'll have to weaken him and put it down his throat." Bonnie said as she came up with a plan in her head, her thoughts rushing in her mind looking for the most full proof plan.

Caroline was frozen on the spot whilst everyone else began making plans, in her mind there was a battle going on, part of her wanted to help Elena and she knew that the only way to do that was to make sure that Klaus took the cure, but the other part knew that that meant she would become a human as well. Sure being a vampire meant you had to drink blood but she could control that –she _knew _she could control it. Blood bags were the meals for her, she wouldn't dare to hurt humans since she knew what it felt like to be on the receiving end. But overall she _liked _being a vampire, it made her into the woman she was today and she was proud of it.

Her human days had been filled with self-loathing and the feeling of not being enough, but when she had turned, thanks to a certain bitch with a pillow (who in the end she was grateful for), she became someone she liked. Loyal, compassionate, brave and strong. All the qualities she had always wanted.

But now her friends were trying to turn her back to the little girl who had been afraid of the world. And she didn't want it.

"So I'll fry his brain, weaken him whilst Stefan, Damon and Jeremy hold him down. Then Elena and Caroline, you're going to put the cure in his mouth and makes sure that he swallows it."

"But we have to get him alone, make sure his siblings aren't there." Jeremy inputs.

"They're not. Rebekah and Elijah are out of town looking for Katherine and the cure." Elena says as her lips curve up into a smile.

"Elena, are you sure you want to do this?" Damon asks as his dark eyes lock onto Elena's, she nods adamantly.

"I do, I can't be a vampire, Damon, I wasn't born for this." She says resolutely with confidence as she pins him down with her doe eyes. Caroline watches the interaction and realises that Damon hasn't spoken out as much as he would have done, he isn't at the helm of the ship like he would usually be.

Caroline watched how Elena's eyes lit up at the prospect of being human once again and in any other situation she would have done anything for her friend, but if it meant losing a part of herself then she had to speak out…

"What if I don't want to be human?" She murmured hoping that for once everyone would ignore her and continue to talk but quite the opposite –silence filled the room, everyone's eyes turned to her and she felt the weight of the heavy gazes.

"What?" Bonnie asked hoping she had misheard her friend.

Caroline filled her lungs with unnecessary air before answering. "What if I don't want to be human, what if I want to remain a vampire?" Bonnie blinked furiously comprehending the question.

"Why would you want that, Caroline? You were always meant to be human not…not…this…" she gestured to her. "You were never supposed to be a vampire, Care." Something in the blonde's heart broke which she couldn't fathom and Elena noticed the light in her eyes dim.

"Look, Care, this is _good. _We can all be human again, start over and we won't have to be afraid of Klaus anymore. He won't hunt us down or harm us. We can travel anywhere and start again. Don't you want that?" Caroline felt her lungs tighten and she couldn't help but paint a fake smile on her face.

"Of course I do, Elena, but I don't want to be human again." She took another breath, "I _can't _be a vampire." She said.

"And I can't be a vampire." Elena said, both realised they had reached an impasse that wouldn't-_couldn't- _be resolved. The doppleganger's eyes turned to the witch who stood at the side watching them both.

"I could find a loophole." She blurted out. "I could make sure that you wouldn't be turned back, Care." Somehow Caroline didn't quite believe that and she knew that it was a lie that Bonnie had made up.

"How?" Bonnie's eyes flickered to Elena who looked at her pleadingly.

"Katherine found a loophole, which means that so can I. Trust me, Care, I can do it." Caroline heard her heart stutter and it solidified her thoughts, Bonnie was lying, whatever Katherine was planning couldn't be replicated for her not in the time they had left. The plan was to be carried out during the night when Klaus would be unprepared and there were only 5 hours left until nightfall.

Caroline looked around seeing Elena's pleading look, Bonnie's judgemental eyes hidden beneath the false promise, Jeremy's eyes condescending look asking her 'why would you want to be a monster' whilst Stefan looked to be contemplating inside his head. Her eyes flickered to Damon's just as he looked at her and it occurred that he, again, hadn't spoken out.

"Are you sure you want to stay as a vampire?" Bonnie asked with a tense voice and Caroline noticed that her tone was strained as if she was forcing herself. "You've got to remember, the rest of us are going to be human, all of us. You'll be the only vampire left." She was trying to guilt trip her. It was a low move but it was the only thing Bonnie could think of knowing that she wouldn't be able to find a way to keep her blond friend a vampire.

"I..I…" Caroline stuttered under the opposing voice in her head. _Be human, everyone else is….You know you don't want to be one of them again. You can't be weak. _"It's fine." Caroline closed her eyes making up her mind. "You don't need to do a spell." Bonnie sighed a breath of relief feeling bad that she had lied to her.

"Great." Elena said with joy. "Now we just need to make sure everything goes to plan."

Caroline couldn't help but feel angry towards Elena in that moment, the looks they had all given her when she told them she didn't want to be human was crushing enough without having to be lied to to go along with the plan under false pretence.

"Well, I need to go find my mom, tell her the news." She smiled forcefully hoping none of them would notice.

"We'll see you later, Care." Bonnie said as the blond vampire turned and walked out of the house feeling the numbness crawl up her body as she left her friends behind, she glanced back and saw Damon staring at her intently with doubt set in his eyes before he looked back to Elena who was breathing with relief.

Caroline flashed to her house and headed in seeing that her mother was there. "Hey mom."

"Caroline, what's wrong?" Liz asked noticing her daughter's small voice. Caroline observed her mother as she walked towards her in her sheriff's uniform with her gun attached to her hip.

"Nothing…I…" Caroline couldn't help but wonder what her mother would think to the situation. "Mom, can I ask you something?" Liz tilted her head gazing at the blond inquisitively.

"Of course, come here." Liz led her to the living room where she sat pulling her daughter with her gently. "You know you can talk to me about anything."

"If…if there was a choice you had to make, like there's this…this _thing_ that would change your entire life and could turn you into something that you didn't like but everyone else wanted, would you use the _thing?" _Caroline asked hoping that her mom would get the gist of the idea but seeing her expression she knew that she hadn't grasped it.

"Sweetie, you're going to have to narrow this down." Caroline took a steadying breath.

"Let's say there's a-a _cake." _Liz cocked up her eyebrow, "And you added _sprinkles _to the _cake _but there was this _thing _that you could use to get rid of the _sprinkles _as if they never existed would you choose to use it if most people wanted to remove the _sprinkles _but there was this one person who liked the _sprinkles_. Would you use the _thing?_" Liz tried to grasp the idea.

"Caroline, you're not making any sense, sweetie." Liz murmured seeing the tears that her daughter was blinking back. Caroline looked away trying to steady herself before looking back at her mom. "Care, I'm a little worried her, why don't you try telling me exactly what's on your mind?"

"We have the cure." Caroline said watching the emotion flash across Liz' face. "And Elena wants to become a human."

"So she wants to take the cure?" Liz asked wondering why this would lead the younger blond to cry.

"Sort of. The only way she can be human is if the originator of her bloodline takes it."

"And that person is…"

"Klaus." Caroline glanced back up and watched as Liz took in the information. "But it also means _everyone _from his bloodline becomes human." She said quietly causing Liz to nod in realisation.

"But _you _don't want to be human." Caroline shook her head slowly as she looked down at her fingers.

"Would you hate me if I didn't turn back?" She murmured and Liz looked startled at the question.

"Of course not, Care. It's your choice if you want to turn back or not. I love you either way. I loved you when you were a human and I love you as a vampire. You're still the same person, but you've grown a lot since you turned. I'm proud of you Caroline, I always have been, whether you're a vampire or human does not affect that."

Caroline felt the weight on her shoulders lighten and she couldn't help the tears spill out of her eyes as she pulled her mother into a hug.

"Care, still human." Liz gasped and Caroline pulled back giggling as she wiped away her tears. "But Elena still wants to be a vampire." She murmured to Caroline who nodded slowly comprehending the words.

"It's not fair." She whispered. "Me, Stefan and Damon never had a choice, and we're alright, apart from Damon, but, yeah, we turned out pretty ok, right?"

"You turned out more than ok, Caroline." Liz said resolutely drying the stray tears from her daughter's face.

"What do I do?" Liz sighed and cupped her daughter's cheek.

"You choose. What your friends want, or what you want. Because once you make that choice there isn't any going back. Do you want to spend the rest of your life hating _who_ you are or disliking _what you did?" _

Caroline nodded as she set her heart and mind to a new plan and rose from her seat. "And Care, if you did go along with this, remember it's the _entire bloodline._ Not just you, Elena and the others, thousands of people would be forced back." Caroline's eyes widened and her decision was set in stone.

She wasn't going to be human, not again. She was going to remain a vampire.

_But how? Well, that was another question._

Liz studied her daughter carefully as she was lost in her thoughts, their relationship hadn't been the strongest at first, in fact after Bill had left both Caroline and Liz pulled away from each other trying to get away from the other's reminder of what had previously been, but when Caroline had turned their bond grew, their relationship became stronger and she loved it.

"Where is the cure now?"

"At the Boarding House, Elena has it, they're planning on using it on Klaus when it gets dark." Liz glanced towards the clock.

"So in a couple of hours." She murmured, Liz watched her daughter's body sag as she backed into the sofa and pulled up her knees, she reminded her mother of when she was 7 when it had thundered outside and she remained sat like that in her bed with her eyes closed tightly as she rocked herself and tried to calm down, those nights were the few where both blondes had put their differences aside.

Caroline ran her fingers through her hair in frustration, "I don't know what to do," Caroline whispered glancing at her mother who tilted her head. "How do I stop it?"

"Warn him." Caroline let out a humourless chuckle.

"And then what? They're going to hate me, they're going to hate themselves and I'm going to have to live with that. If I do tell Klaus, he's either going to kill them and take the cure to use on Elena to get hybrids or he's just going to leave whilst I have to watch my friends despise themselves."

"Or you could leave as well." Liz murmured and Caroline's head snapped to the side to look at her mother.

"What…?" She whispered as Liz let out a deep breath.

"You could leave Mystic Falls, I love you Caroline, I do, and I love this town but it's full of danger. I'm sure every supernatural being will probably pass through this town, I mean remember Silas, he nearly killed you, he nearly killed me and nearly killed everyone on this planet. I want you safe, Caroline and if that means leaving Mystic Falls, then so be it." Caroline stared at her mother with wide eyes.

"But you-"

"I'm retiring." Liz whispered causing Caroline to sit up frantically and look at her mother in confusion.

"But you're only 35, I don't understand…"

"When Silas nearly killed me, I thought, this is it, I'm going to die at the hands of a 2000 year old immortal psychopath who I don't even know. But I didn't die, you brought me back and I swore to myself to never let anything like that happen again, I don't want to die Caroline, I'm scared." Liz's eyes glazed over with tears, Caroline watched shocked as her mother's vulnerability presented itself for the first time. "And last week, there was a shooting in downtown and a bullet grazed my shoulder-"

"What?!" Caroline shrieked grasping her mother's hands tightly whilst Liz sighed.

"A bullet, it grazed my shoulder," Liz pulled a hand free and tugged the edge of her collar to the side showing a patch of white bandage that covered her shoulder, Caroline shook her head in disbelief.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't have chance, I was working and you were with your friends, we barely saw each other. But it made me realise that in this line, being a Sheriff, I could die just like that," Liz snapped her fingers, "and I don't want that to happen. So I gave in my letter of resignation last weekend and today is my last day. I'm hanging up my sheriff's badge, I'm not risking my life anymore, I can't do that not to you."

Caroline couldn't help the loss of words that overcame her, instead she pulled her mom into a tight hug, "I don't want to lose you, mommy." She whispered feeling the woman engulf her in warmness as she patted Caroline's back.

"And you don't, just like I refuse to lose you or allow you to live hating yourself." Liz untangled herself from Caroline before getting up and pulling out a few letters from a draw. "You got your College letters back, they came this morning, sweetie." Caroline cleared her throat confused at the sudden change of conversation but she couldn't find it in herself to ask why. Taking the letters she opened each one to be stunned.

"I got in." She whispered as a grin spread across her lips. "All of them, I got in to all of them, Charleston, Tulane, Whitmore, Chicago, New York….all of them…." Liz ran her fingers through Caroline's hair as she smiled proudly.

"I knew you would, I'm so proud of you Carebear, where are you planning to go?" Caroline blinked before frowning.

"I was planning to go to Whitmore, since it would be the closest to you-"

"But you won' have to, I was planning on travelling around the states for a few months before settling somewhere new. I always planned to travel a bit, after I retired. I guess this the perfect opportunity." Caroline's mouth opened and closed.

"You want to leave?" Liz nodded slowly and Caroline mirrored the move. "Let's do it," Caroline glanced at the letters now lying on the table, "I was hoping to go to Tulane, and their biological evolution course is the best out of all of them." Liz smiled at her.

"I was thinking of visiting Steven for the Summer, I can come down and visit you when you get settled Caroline."

"Really?"

"Really. Now go, you need to warn Klaus before the others do something." Caroline nodded and stood slowly.

"What if he doesn't listen?" Liz tilted her head.

"My daughter doesn't give up until the whole world is listening, and Klaus Mikaelson is no exception." Caroline inhaled deeply and nodded.

"Ok, ok. I'll see you later, mom."

"I'm proud of you." Caroline's eyes watered but she held her tears back as she stepped away and out of the door sparing a glance back to see her mom smiling at her with a nod.

Caroline walked to the end of the drive before glancing to her side seeing no one in the street and flashed towards Klaus' mansion where she froze at the entrance.

"Ok, here we go…" Caroline straightened her back and held her head high as she walked determinedly towards the door and knocked on the door resolutely. She could hear the footsteps on the other side grow closer.

_You can do this…_the door opened suddenly…

"What the hell do you want?"

…_or not…_

"Rebekah." The blonde Original raised her perfectly curved eyebrow waiting for an answer. "Is Klaus here?" Rebekah's lips curved up into a smirk.

"Nik, your plaything is here!" Rebekah hollered but gained no response causing her to huff, "He's upstairs in his room," as Caroline stepped forward Rebekah slammed her hand into the doorframe blocking her way as she looked the younger blonde up and down, "if this is another one of your failed plans where you come and distract my brother whilst the rest of your pathetic friends try to kill us, I will gouge out your eyes and make you watch as I pull out your heart. Clear?" Rebekah's lips turned to a sweet, innocent smile as Caroline nodded once with the roll of her eyes. Rebekah stayed still for a moment before sighing and walking away leaving Caroline to close the door behind her. Her friends had been wrong, Rebekah was here but it seemed Elijah was absent like Elena had believed.

Her eyes wandered over the interior of the house, the building screamed elegance and royalty and she felt it overwhelm her so she evaded her gaze and walked up the stairs, using her vampire hearing she made her way to a room on the far side of the corridor and opened the door to see Klaus with his back turned to her as he faced a canvas which he seemed to have just started working on recently judging by the few brush strokes on the white surface.

Silence remained in the room, neither Klaus nor Caroline spoke, the bristle of the brush on the canvas was the only sound in the room. Hating the silence, Caroline cleared her throat as she closed the door behind her hoping Klaus would acknowledge her but he didn't.

"Klaus."

"Hello, love." If it weren't for his words Caroline would have thought that he hadn't even noticed her presence, she saw him tilt his head before placing his brush to the side and getting up from his stool as he turned to face her. His lips curved up into a smirk as he hid the confusion he felt at her presence in his house. Why on Earth would she be here?

"Pretty picture." She murmured glancing at the finished canvas of a pure white feather with red, bloodlike, tips that seemed to be floating in the air.

"Hmm, I suppose it is." He agreed not sparing a glance at his work. "So you've here to admire my work?" He asked with a hint of amusement causing Caroline to swallow as she tried to find a way to bring up her issue.

"No, though I do admire it, you're really good."

"Flattery will get you everywhere." He said with a smirk as he cocked his eyebrow waiting for her to continue. "Is this another plan form your friends, here to distract me as they try and fail miserably to kill me?" Caroline shook her head.

"No."

"Well, sweetheart, as much as I love you being here, do enlighten me as to why." Caroline let out a deep breath, Klaus noticed her shaky breath and her blue eyes which sustained a hint of fear, which he had never seen before. "Is something troubling you, love, you seem worried?" He asked genuinely curious, he moved closer to her eyeing her up and down noticing her dishelved hair, the apples of her cheeks which were stained with dried tears and the increase in her heart rate.

Caroline looked Klaus in the eyes and something crossed her mind, if her friends somehow gave him the cure, what would he be like as a human? Would he go mad with being weak, would he die of old age, would he be _happy?_

"You once said that we…we were the same," she licked her dry lips, "what made you think that?" Klaus blinked startled by the question but offered her an answer nonetheless.

"You are what I once was, what I wanted to be though I didn't have the capability to believe it. I was once kind and loyal, just like you, admittedly those were my days as a human, but I changed as time passed. Just like you are, maybe you're not travelling the same road as I once did but I see the similarities." He moved closer slowly taking care to not startle her. "You do terrible things to save your friends as I do the same to save my family. You've killed for the Bennett witch as I've killed for Rebekah, I won't hesitate to dagger my family if they are in danger as you won't hesitate to lie to your friends if they were in danger." He stilled a few feet from her taking in the quickened beat of her heart and the small shallow breaths she was taking in. "We may not be exactly the same but we are not as different as you believe. We share the same principles but carry out our actions in different ways, I plunder and kill whilst you negotiate and eradicate."

Caroline inhaled sharply, "What if I changed?" She whispered quietly, "What if I choose to be selfish, to put my friends aside and do what's best for me. We wouldn't be the same, would we?"

"I suppose not, but some choices force us to put ourselves first, we are selfish Caroline it's our nature, it's in every species' nature, even humans are selfish. Being selfish makes us who we are, if we weren't then we wouldn't be living our lives, would we?" He said softly noticing Caroline's shoulders tense before they sagged again.

Caroline eyes were frozen on Klaus' she felt the urge to cry out, to refuse to make a choice and just run away, but she couldn't, she had made a choice and she needed to carry it out before the others interrupted.

She exhaled slowly using all her reserves of courage and strength to continue, "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything, love." He murmured waiting patiently for her question.

"Would you leave…would you leave Mystic Falls if I asked you?" Klaus narrowed his eyes in curiosity.

"It depends." Caroline's interest heightened.

"On what?" Klaus didn't answer, "What does it depend on?" He offered no words and Caroline felt her throat begin constricting as she tried to hurry along the conversation hoping her friends wouldn't change the plan to act sooner, the sky had already begun to darken outside and she didn't want to waste any more time, "Klaus, what's keeping you here?" She asked forcefully trying to get him to answer quicker.

"You." Klaus murmured softly keeping his eyes locked on Caroline as the breath was knocked out of the young vampire.

"What?" She asked in disbelief blinking furiously as she tried to comprehend his answer.

"You're keeping me here." Caroline watched his eyes soften.

"Why?" His lisp curved up into a small smirk.

"You _know why._" Caroline couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Because you fancy me." She chuckled mirthlessly as Klaus caught her eyes again and looked at her expressionlessly.

"It's a bit more complicated than that, don't you think?" He said gently as Caroline's façade dropped and she looked at him helplessly.

"I suppose so." She murmured hating to admit that there was something more between them which she couldn't shake. "You didn't answer my question?" His tongue darted out wetting his dry rosy lips.

"And my anchor to this place, what would happen to her?" Caroline bit the inside of her cheek nearly drawing blood as she weighed up the pros and cons.

"If I asked you to run, to leave this town, _with me, _right now, would you?" His eyes widened.

"I've already offered you a way out, Rome, Paris, and Tokyo. But, sweetheart…" he stepped closer minimising the distance between them, he took her hand in his "are you asking?" Caroline looked down to their entwined hands and brushed her thumb across the back of his hand.

"Yes. I'm asking you." She looked up into his eyes and saw the blank expression on his face before it morphed into inquisitiveness.

"Ok." He whispered nodding as he kept his eyes on Caroline's whilst gently squeezing the hand he held, "Tell me everything." He demanded in a whisper.

"They have the cure, Elena wants it but the only way she can become human is if the originator of her line ingests it. _You're _the originator of her line, they planned to force it down your throat when it's dark. Your entire bloodline would become human…"

"Including you."

"Including me." She said in a finalising breath. "I can't be human, you were right, I like who I am now compared to who I was before." She said quietly running her fingers over his and drawing circles on his palm.

"Where to-"His words were cut off when he heard Rebekah's scream resonate through the mansion and Caroline's eyes widen.

"Rebekah." Klaus and Caroline focused their hearing to Rebekah and heard Latin words being murmured by Bonnie. Klaus tried to pull his hand away from but she refused to let go. "Don't go." She pleaded as she heard Tyler's voice.

"Klaus, we've got your sister, why don't you come out here and face us!" Klaus glanced between Caroline and the door debating his next actions but an ear-splitting scream hit both of the blonde vampires. His eyes connected with Caroline's, she didn't know what to do, let Klaus go to face them and be turned or force him out of the house with her leaving behind Rebekah. "Come on big bad, where are you?!" Damon joined in as their footsteps ascended the stairs.

Klaus made a split second decision, after Mikael had been killed, he refused to run anymore, and he certainly wasn't going to run now especially with so much at stake. His eyes showed Caroline his thoughts and she realised what he was about to do, before she could protest he flashed her to the side of the room where he pushed a bookcase aside and pulled open a latch in the wall leading into a dark stone corridor.

"Klaus?" She whispered as he grabbed her hand entwining their fingers for a few seconds pushing her into the corridor as he followed backing her into a stone wall and cradling her face with his other hand.

"I'll come back for you." He whispered as Caroline opened her mouth to protest but she was cut off as she felt Klaus place his lips against hers, his touch burning her in a euphoric way, he moved his lips against hers for a few seconds as Caroline took her free hand and fisted it into his shirt pulling him closer leaving no gap between them. Just as quick as his touch had been it disappeared completely as he pulled his lips away from hers and they both opened their eyes. "I'll come back, I promise." He murmured placing a butterfly kiss against her swollen lips and flashing out closing the wall and pushing the bookcase in front again leaving Caroline breathless against the wall as she tried to grasp what had just happened.

Before she could even try to make sense of anything, another scream made her focus, the sound had reverberated in the corridor but from the end of the tunnel, Caroline blinked furiously trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness, thank God she was a vampire, she kept her hand against the wall as she walked deeper into the darkness following the pathway, she stumbled down a set of steps as screams echoed through the dark corridor, sounding like Rebekah's.

"Rebekah!" Klaus bellowed with Caroline hearing his voice and a disgruntled groan.

"The Original Hybrid on his knees, well would you look at that." Caroline heard Damon's voice grow louder as she came closer, she set off into a run stumbling in the dark as she tried to find her way, she didn't notice the tears that spilled out of her eyes until one touched her lips and she tasted the saltiness of it, she kept running trying to find a way out to help Klaus. She stopped when she hit a dead end and slammed into a wall, she pounded her fists against it and turned frantically.

"Remember when you were human, no, well let me give you a reminder." Elena hissed.

"NIK!" Rebekah cried out, Caroline saw the slither of light that fell into the corridor, she rushed towards it realising it must be a way pout, she fumbled her hands along the wall when she miraculously found a latch and pulled it open slowly to peek out, it seemed that they were standing in a study, Rebekah was lying on the floor with her eyes closing every few seconds as if she was fighting to stay awake, Klaus was pinned to the floor by Tyler, Stefan and Damon who all had their backs to Caroline whilst Bonnie was stood over Rebekah with her eyes closed as Elena stood over Klaus with the cure in her hand.

"I will kill you."

"Good luck with that, a little birdie told us that is a vampire ingests the cure, they return to their original state depending on their age and seeing as your well over a thousand years old, well, I don't think you'll be doing much killing granddad." Damon said sarcastically. "Elena, do it."

Caroline's chest tightened as she saw Elena lower the cure towards Klaus whose mouth was being forced open by Tyler, her eyes made out Klaus' body writhing on the floor.

"_Would you rather hate yourself or hate what you did."_

"_You're keeping me here."_

"_Rome, Paris, Tokyo…"_

"_It's a bit more complicated than that, don't you think?"_

Not wasting another second, Caroline pulled open the door and proceeded to snap Damon, Tyler and Stefan's necks in under a few seconds before pushing Elena away from Klaus, the cure was still in the doppleganger's hand.

"Caroline?" Elena shrieked, "What are you doing?!" Caroline ignored her question as she tried to get the cure out of her hand but failed as a piercing ache shot through her head, she clutched her temples trying to get rid of it, Elena pushed the blonde to her back as Caroline saw Bonnie's hand outstretched over her body.

"Bonnie…" Caroline said hoarsely before she tilted her head.

"Do it, now!" Bonnie screamed at Elena who overcame her shock over Caroline's actions and scrambled towards Klaus who remained writhing on the floor as Bonnie used her magic to pin both Originals to the ground.

"Elena...please….don't…." Caroline's voice was small yet pleading but Elena shook her head ignoring her as she pulled open Klaus' mouth and was about to push the cure down his throat when she was pulled back by her ankle which Caroline had gripped tightly, the blonde threw the brunette against the wall causing her grip on the red vial to fall allowing the cure to slip out of her fingers and land next to the desk in between Klaus and Rebekah.

Caroline scrambled towards the vial only to be pulled back by Elena who had grasped onto her hair and yanked her back. Elena dived over Klaus and was just in reach of the cure, Caroline's vision became blurred as Bonnie began muttering more Latin words.

"Bonnie, stop, please!" Caroline yelled out but the witch wouldn't relent, the blonde could make out Elena's blurry outline and hoped that her coordination was on point, as she twisted her legs knocking Elena's knees out from her, unwittingly making her fall closer to Klaus. Caroline reached out fumbling for something to help her when her hand suddenly landed on a big, heavy book, Caroline grasped it and using all her strength hurled it towards Elena who was inches from putting the cure in Klaus' mouth.

The book slammed into Elena's jaw, the force pushing her away from Klaus and knocking her through the wooden desk as the vial fell and rolled towards Bonnie's feet, Caroline scrambled towards Klaus shielding him with her arms stretched out. Bonnie knelt and picked the cure up pinching it between her fingers, her brow furrowed and the siblings on the floor began groaning louder whilst Caroline began screaming as bone shattering pain coursed through her body.

"Move." Bonnie's voice was hard as she walked closer towards Caroline who shook her head as she kept one hand out in front of her whilst the other was on Klaus' chest making sure that he was still behind her.

"No…" Caroline said in a broken voice earning an increase in pain and another scream. "Please…don't make me do this…" She whispered as she raised her head to lock her eyes on Bonnie's whose were cold and hard.

"Move." Bonnie said again with eerie calmness. Caroline swallowed back the pain forcing her mind to overcome it, she heard Elena grunt behind her as she tried to get up from the wooden wreckage. Before Caroline could move she was flung across the room towards Elena who pushed her to her back and used a wooden piece form the desk to plunge it into her stomach, Caroline screamed out as she felt the pain radiate from her stomach, she turned to her side and her eyes found Klaus', she saw a tear trail down his cheek as he watched her helplessly. Taking a deep breath Caroline pulled the stake out and flung it towards Elena catching her in the middle of her back, she fell to her knees as Caroline crawled towards Klaus ignoring the splinters that embedded themselves into her hands, but Elena who now held the cure pushed herself to Klaus, the brunette's eyes found Caroline's and she saw pure hatred in Elena's orbs.

"Elena, do it. Now!" Bonnie yelled just as Rebekah screamed out feeling her body contort under Bonnie's magic.

"Nik…" Rebekah groaned out calling out to her brother as he kept his eyes on Caroline who tried to crawl towards him.

"NO!" Caroline screamed as Elena opened Klaus' limp jaw whilst he still face the blonde, Caroline reached out gripping Elena's wrist stopping her but she couldn't find any strength to push her back as Bonnie began hovering her hands over her. Elena placed her hand on Caroline's wrist and began crushing it breaking the bone, Caroline's eyes found Klaus' as he kept them locked on her, he didn't spare a glance to anyone else, not even the cure which was about to be shoved into his mouth.

Without warning, the door slammed open as a figure whooshed into the room and slammed Bonnie's head into the wall knocking her out permanently causing her magic to falter, the minute gap allowed Caroline to overcome the residual magic which had been stopping her and she snapped Elena's wrist allowing the cure to fall in Caroline's other hand, the blonde pushed Elena back against the wall before throwing the cure into the burning fire in the fireplace, the flames erupted into scarlet sparks as the cure melted and burned away.

Caroline grasped Klaus' cheeks shaking him slightly as his eyes closed, "Klaus, Klaus wake up!" Caroline yelled out trying to rouse him, "Klaus!" the blonde's voice cracked as tears spilled out of her eyes and landed on the Hybrid's skin glistening on his neck and cheeks. "Klaus, get up!" Caroline shook him harder, "You can't leave me, please, don't leave me." She cried out trying to plead with him to wake up, he gasped for air as his eyes slammed open and he looked up to see Caroline, he glanced around to the damage before pulling himself up to sit against the wall.

"Caroline…" he said in a hoarse voice, she shook her head and scrambled into his lap straddling him as she threw her arms around his neck and buried her face into his neck.

"I thought-I thought they were go-going to d-do it." She stuttered out into his skin holding him tightly afraid to release him.

Klaus eyes widened fractionally at the contact before he sighed and closed his eyes in content at the touch, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer as he buried his face onto her hair and pressed soothing kisses against her neck. "I'm right here." He whispered.

"They were so-so close…" she said with her eyes closed trying to push the images of his body writhing in agony on the floor. "So close…"

"Shhh." He tightened his grip on her waist as she did the same around his neck. "I'm not leaving you." He whispered into her neck. Klaus looked up to see Elijah standing in the middle of the room with a cocked eyebrow as Caroline's mother stood behind him surveying the damage and the limp bodies on the floor.

"Niklaus."

"Elijah, I'd say that was perfect timing." He muttered as Elijah knelt to help Rebekah sit up slowly. His eyes locked onto Liz, "Sheriff Forbes." Caroline pulled away and glanced over her shoulder to see her mom.

"Mom?" Caroline whispered brokenly still sitting on Klaus with her arms hooked around his neck, Liz seeing the broken look on Caroline face swiftly moved closer and knelt beside her brushing her fingers over her daughter's hair pulling the strands away from her face, "Sweetie, you're bleeding." Liz murmured as she saw the red stain on Caroline's shirt.

"I'm fine." Caroline murmured before glancing at Damon who began coming round before Elijah flashed towards him and swiftly snapped his neck. "Why are you here?"

"I ran into Elijah and told him about the cure and you're plan to stop them, we came here as soon as possible hoping to help but well…" she glanced around the room,"…I suppose you had it all under control." Liz gave her a small smile which Caroline shook her head at as her eyes filled with tears. "It's ok, everything's ok." Caroline nodded slowly like a child before turning her head and pressing her face against Klaus' neck as he continued to hold her, Liz looked at Klaus sympathetically before she glanced at her daughter's previous friends sternly as they lay unconscious on the floor.

"I sincerely hope you'll allow me to _punish _them for the damage they caused." Klaus said in a low tone to the Sheriff, she pursed her lips with her eyebrows raised, she was hoping to have this resolved without violence but seeing as this went beyond human comprehension she sighed.

"Just don't kill them." Klaus' lips turned up into a devious smirk as he raised his hand and stroked Caroline's soft blonde hair calming her shaky breath. He felt the rage course through his veins, he needed to hurt them, he needed to kill them but the feel of Caroline's lips pressed against his neck and her body so close to his, the actions he had seen from Caroline when she tried to save him, the way she fought against them, the way she _cared about him_, all of it made him agree with Caroline's mother.

"Of course not, Sheriff. Death would be too kind." He murmured lowly as he watched Elijah drag the bodies out of the room whilst he pressed a kiss against Caroline's hair whilst she whimpered. "Shhh, love, you're safe, I'm here…" He felt Caroline's hold tighten even more around his neck.

"I know…." She whispered before pulling her head up and looking into his eyes, "I'm glad you're safe…" Klaus stroked her cheek with his thumb as she closed her eyes and laid her head back on his shoulder. Klaus shut his eyes slowly taking in her words as they went straight to his heart and engulfed him in warmth.

"Me too, love…" he swallowed thickly as he saw the wooden stake which was covered in Caroline's blood and the fireplace which burnt a bright scarlet with the remains of the cure, "…me too…"


	2. Chapter 2

"**Of course not, Sheriff. Death would be too kind." He murmured lowly as he watched Elijah drag the bodies out of the room whilst he pressed a kiss against Caroline's hair whilst she whimpered. "Shhh, love, you're safe, I'm here…" He felt Caroline's hold tighten even more around his neck.**

"**I know…." She whispered before pulling her head up and looking into his eyes, "I'm glad you're safe…" Klaus stroked her cheek with his thumb as she closed her eyes and laid her head back on his shoulder. Klaus shut his eyes slowly taking in her words as they went straight to his heart and engulfed him in warmth.**

"**Me too, love…" he swallowed thickly as he saw the wooden stake which was covered in Caroline's blood and the fireplace which burnt a bright scarlet with the remains of the cure, "…me too…"**

It should have been easy, standing in front of her former friends, tell them why she did what she did and walk away knowing that she had finally made a choice for _herself. _She could walk into the cellar- like-room where Damon, Bonnie, Stefan, Tyler and Elena were kept and hold her head up high whilst she told them that she for once she couldn't do what they wanted her to do.

The problem was…she didn't know what to say or how to explain herself.

It wasn't that she didn't think it was the best choice, it most certainly was. Caroline couldn't live as a human, not any more. Vampirism-though it had a fair few downsides-was the best kind of life for the blonde.

Now, how do you explain that to a group of people who would gladly give it up? It would be like taking candy from a kid, hard and gruelling hoping that in the end the child would relent and move on. The same didn't- _wouldn't- _apply here.

After Elijah had removed the unconscious bodies to the cellar and called for a housemaid to clean up whilst Liz regretfully returned to the station, Caroline finally took a deep breath and downed the glass of scotch which Klaus had gratefully handed her before he sat down beside her in front of the fireplace which was currently burning an amber in the darkness as night descended.

The burn coursed down Caroline's throat and she couldn't help but grimace as she felt herself choke on the sour taste of the drink but it faded as the feeling was replaced by the tingle on her pale lips. Subconsciously, the young blonde let her finger trace the line of her lips as they continued to tingle beneath her flesh, she could feel the softness of her fingertip against the pale skin of her lip, it felt so rough compared to the memory of Klaus' lips on hers.

Klaus sat back leaning against the sofa with his eyes on Caroline's form, he watched her trace her lips and couldn't help but have the urge to tug her towards him to feel the warmth he had before when she had latched onto him straddling his body. He could feel the tension emanate from her body and see the dilemma within her blue orbs. He urged to say her name but couldn't find it in himself to break the quiet spell, he wondered what she would do next, leave and not look back or face him. They had kissed. And now…nothing.

"_I'm going to kill her!" _Caroline's eyes constricted as Elena's rang clearly into her ear from beneath the ground where the cellar was located.

"_Elen-"_

"_No! We had once chance, and now the cure is gone. We were so close, Stefan!" _Caroline' eyes slammed shut as she heard the clear disgust in the brunette's voice, but there was no way to blame her. Elena couldn't help be angry, she wanted the cure and Caroline took that choice form her –_woah, backtrack one second, 'took the choice away' doesn't that sound a little too familiar Forbes? _Caroline grit her teeth as she listened to the voice in her head, Elena had planned to take the choice away from her and millions of other vampires all around the world- _but didn't you just take the choice from her and your other friends, how is that fair?- _The blonde sighed at hearing the conflicting thoughts in her mind.

"Don't." Caroline's eyes snapped open at hearing his voice. She kept her eyes trained on the fireplace refusing to face him but he continued nevertheless. "You had to make a choice, save yourself or not. It's engraved in our survival instincts to do the former and that's all you did." Caroline could feel the shift on the sofa as he moved closer, a shiver ran down her spine as she felt his fingers glide across the top of her hand. She snatched her hand away from his touch before standing up swiftly.

"I could have been human. I could have been happy."

"_I'm a vampire, I can't deal with this!" _Elena's voice filtered through.

"_The spirits won't allow me to speak to them, I can't ask for any help, I mean, why the hell anyone would want to remain a vampire is beyond me, why would she do that?" _Bonnie said softly, a juxtaposition to her harsh words.

Caroline gritted her teeth and began pacing around the room as she ran her fingers through her hair and tried to come up with a way to fix this, she need her friends no matter what.

"Caroline. Sweetheart, slow down you're-"Caroline began shaking her head.

"Calm down?! How the hell am I supposed to calm down, I just got rid of the cure, stopped my friends getting the one thing they wanted and now they all hate me! So tell me how I'm supposed to _calm down?!" _Caroline's breathing harshened as she ranted out her thoughts and feelings without any filter between her mouth and her brain. Klaus looked at her curiously wondering why this was so important to her, surely she should be happy that she stayed a vampire. Right?

"Caroline, why is this affecting you, you got what you wanted, right. You're not human, none of us are." Klaus got up making her freeze as she felt the shift in the air. Her back was to him and she refused to look at him knowing that if she did her thoughts would run to that tantalising kis- _Nope, nothing, nada- _She focused her energy on trying to find a way to get out of this mess. "Caroline?" The blonde didn't answer and she could hear his lungs release a large breath. "Sweetheart, tell me what's wrong?" He asked softly causing her insides to clench but gaining no verbal response. "Fine." He muttered before flashing out of the room and back to his room which had been spelled preventing any listeners from hearing into his room.

Caroline huffed before steeling herself and striding down to the cellar only to be met by cold eyes and dark expressions.

"Well look who it is, little miss sunshine, finally swapped sides, Blonde?" Damon sneered as he tugged on the chains which held his wrists like the others. Caroline bit her lip before releasing a breath.

"I didn't ask for this to happen I-"

"Just helped the big bad win, yes we get it, now run along and join him in your happy ever after." The elder Salvatore said nonchalantly.

"How could you do it, Caroline, you knew how much the cure meant to me, to us. Why?" Elena asked in disbelief.

"I'm sorry, I can't be _human, _I don't think I was meant to stay human. Being a vampire it's the best thing for me," her eyes turned to Bonnie who was looking at her emotionlessly, "like magic for Bonnie, if you were a normal human you wouldn't have that magically feeling right?"

"At least I wouldn't be the one thing responsible for killing millions of people. Being a vampire isn't natural." She said in a tired tone as if she was losing the will to keep talking, her head settled back against the wall as she locked her eyes on Caroline's which had begun filling with tears,

"I'm sorr-"She tried to choke out but was cut off when Tyler began talking.

"It wasn't about being a vampire was it? It was Klaus. Why else would you go to him, we even gave you a way out, Caroline, we gave you the option to stay a vampire. Why didn't you take it?" He asked condescendingly earning a scoff from the blonde.

"Option? The only option I had was to believe your lies. There was no other way for me to stay a vampire and we all know it, it was either let you force the cure down Klaus' throat or stop you. I chose myself for once and I don't regret it- I won't." Her eyes fell back to Elena, "I'm sorry that I turned my back on you, I'm sorry that I let you down, I'm sorry that there wasn't another way," her breathing came out in pants as she let her eyes fall over each member of the room, "but I'm not sorry for putting myself first for once, I'm _not _sorry for being selfish. Not this time."

Silence fell in the room void of everything apart from the disappointed expressions on her former friends' faces. Finding nothing else to say and observing the lack of emotions on their faces, Caroline turned around and walked back to the main room which was now empty. She bit her lip trying to hold in the tears which threatened to fall, her eyes fell on her wrist which Elena had crushed, she could still feel the tiny fragments of bone realigning themselves, a tear dropped from her eye onto the skin of her wrist and she couldn't help but wince.

The blonde sniffled and wiped away her tears as she debated going to speak to Klaus. She couldn't help but wonder what he would be expecting of her. Summoning up the last amount of strength she had, she made her way up the stairs towards Klaus' room, she stilled just as she was about to knock and enter.

What was she supposed to say? _Sorry about my meltdown but I'm over it and now I want to kiss your luscious lips and swirl my tongue in your mouth to taste the sweet but bitter scotch on your tongue- _

Caroline groaned as she unknowingly hit her head on the door feeling the frustration reach the point of no return, she lifted her head slightly before letting it fall back on the hard surface hoping with all hope that such actions would somehow clear her mind. Caroline continued to repeat the action using her inner voice to scream at herself.

Before she could react, the door opened quickly and she braced herself for the impact with her eyes shut as not even her vampire senses could stop her from falling. But a certain Original hybrid could. Before she knew it, Caroline found herself enveloped in a strong pair of arms as a masculine scent engulfed her senses. She opened her eyes slowly being welcomed by the sight of a soft grey Henley, lifting her head she found azure blue orbs looking back at her.

"Klaus." Her voice was breathy fanning across Klaus' lips as he held her body with his arms wrapped around her waist.

"I didn't know whether you were planning to open the door or use it as a ramming wall." He murmured, the amusement being lost in the tension which sizzled between them as they found themselves inches from the other.

"I…I-You need to…I-"Caroline found herself lost in the oceans of his eyes leading to her stutters, the proximity of his lips causing her cheeks to heat up. Composing herself, she straightened up, "You need to let the others go." Her tone missed the sternness it usually held causing the words she had said to come out as a question rather than a demand.

"Do I?" He asked in amusement, Caroline shifted and grabbed his hands which were around her waist before pushing them away as she straightened up. Composing herself she walked past him further into his room before spinning round to face him as he closed the door.

"Yes." She said resolutely. "You need to let them go." A dark shadow passed over Klaus' face as his eyes hardened but were still full of warmth.

"Care to explain as to why I should let them go, sweetheart?" Caroline swallowed as he moved closer.

"Because…"her reasoning became scarce, "because….they're my friends. They don't deserve this and whatever you're planning on doing, don't. They didn't have a choice, they saw a way to get rid of you and they took it-"

"Leaving you as collateral damage. Admit it, love, if they had somehow succeeded then you would be weak." He moved closer watching her carefully as he tried to pick apart the details. "Why does it matter so much to you, you made a choice, they failed and now they need to be punished?" He said resolutely.

"They had no choic-"

"Everyone has a choice." Caroline sighed.

"And they thought they were making the right one for themselves by trying to use the cure."

"You don't hate them for hurting you?" He asked confused as he watched her still defend them. "You're allowing them to walk away unscathed after they tried to take your choice away from you?" Caroline nibbled her lower lip as she thought about it, yes they did try to force her but they thought they were doing the right thing.

"They're my friends." She said quietly causing Klaus to growl within his throat. "They don't deserve whatever you're planning." The blonde took a deep breath, "Look, I let them down, I chose to help you rather than them and-"

"You let them down" he whispered to himself as he took in her words, she stilled as she heard him repeat them.

"Klaus?" Caroline asked lowly as she watched his cocky façade drop and his eyes shine with vulnerability. He swallowed the lump in his throat as he felt his heart hammer in his chest.

"You let them down…" _by choosing me. _He shut his eyes composing himself. Caroline's eyes widened as if she had heard his thoughts, knowing what he must have heard from her words.

"I didn't mean it like that-

"I understand, Caroline." His eyes opened with a renewed façade, "I suggest you get your _friends _and leave before I do something I won't regret." He forced a smirk across his lips before turning towards the window refusing to allow her to watch him knowing that she would be able to read the tell-tale signs of his emotions and call him out on them.

"I didn't mean it-"

"Go." His hard voice rang out causing her to falter in her words. The blonde swallowed trying to figure out what to do now. Her shoulders sagged as she turned around and made her way towards the door.

Klaus kept his eyes firmly on the window and his body rigid preventing himself from flashing towards her to stop her from leaving as she opened the door-

_Click._

-but she was gone before she could notice him look over his shoulder pleading internally for her to stay.

After releasing her friends- and coming under scrutiny once again- she went home to find her mother waiting for her with college letters at the ready.

"Caroline, I've been looking at this little house on the outskirts of New Orleans, if Tulane is your first choice then we could go see it before we move and-"Liz froze as she saw Caroline frozen on the couch with no emotion across her face. "Sweetie?" Liz gained no response from her daughter. "Caroline?" She whispered as she sat beside her on the sofa mimicking the hours before when she heard of her daughter's first dilemma.

"I messed up. Big time." Caroline whispered as Liz slid her hand to Caroline's, "Everyone hates me…"

"_You helped Klaus, Caroline. Klaus, the monster who made our lives hell. He tried to kill me, in fact he did kill me! How could you!"_

"_I can't be friends with someone who turns their back on me, Caroline." Bonnie said, "My Grams warned me about getting into vampire business, she was right. I can't be around you, you chose to help him."_

"_It's always been Klaus hasn't it, even when we were together you held some sort of weird torch for him. You made the wrong choice."_

"_It was supposed to be a good thing, Caroline, we could all have been human, grow old have families. A normal life. You took that choice from us. I'm sorry Caroline but I can't." _

"What about Klaus?"

"He thinks that I think I made the wrong choice by helping him." Caroline murmured before letting her head fall back against the sofa as Liz raised her eyebrow comprehending her words.

"Why would he think that?" The blonde vampire sighed

"I may have said that I let the others down by choosing to help him." Liz clicked her tongue as she squeezed Caroline's hand reassuringly.

"Is he right?" Caroline looked at her confused, "Did you make the wrong choice?" The blonde shook her head vehemently.

"No. What I did was right. I couldn't' let them go through with it."

"Did you tell him that?"

"No." Liz pursed her lips. "He told me to release the others and leave before I could." Ignoring word 'release', Liz nodded.

"So you left him thinking that he was right?" She said softly void of any judgement. Caroline sighed with a nod.

"Can we just forget about it for now, please? I don't want to think any more." Her eyes fell on the college acceptance letters. "You were saying, a house in Tulane…"Liz nodded and allowed a smile to cross her lips as her mind worked overtime planning a way for Caroline to overcome her dilemma.

_**Meanwhile…**_

"What are you sulking about now? Your pretty little girlfriend pulled the wool over your eyes again so what? Why can't we just get rid of them?" Rebekah huffed as she watched Klaus sip at the amber liquid in his glass. "Come on, Nik, what's wrong with you?" The blonde exclaimed irritated at her brother's unusual behaviour.

"Nothing, sister. Absolutely nothing is wrong with me. Now why don't you go back to playing dress up and find someone else to bother." He groaned as dodged the pillow Rebekah had flung at him. "Did I hit a nerve?" Klaus asked with a smirk, Rebekah rolled her eyes at him before placing her hands on her hips in a stern manner.

"Look, I bet Caroline was part of the little plan as well and she was the distraction, like usual-"

"No. She wasn't, not this time." Rebekah raised her eyebrows.

"And you know this how…?"

"She asked me to leave town-"Rebekah scoffed, "-with her." His sister froze and a confused expression crossed her face.

"Wait, wait, wait…she asked _you _to leave town with _her _so that her friends _couldn't_ come after you?" Klaus nodded. "And now she's where exactly?" He shrugged. "So you're telling me that she left after asking you to leave town with her and now you don't know if she's even in town or gone off like planned."

Klaus froze as he thought about it his sister's way. The voice in his head began reprimanding him for being so stupid, why hadn't he checked if she was still even in town for all he knew she could have got on the first plane out of this hell hole. He could have gone with her. Like they had been on the cusp of planning.

"Dammit." Klaus hissed before downing the drink and flashing upright, his sister grasped his hand stopping him.

"Something else happened didn't it?" She watched his face and noticed the quick flash of warmth and joy across his eyes before he hid it. "It did, tell me what happened." She was met with a wall of silence before she dug her nails into his wrist perfecting the role of an annoying little sister.

"Rebekah." He hissed as blood came speckling out of the fingernail slices in his flesh, "ok, ok, ok…we kissed. There. Are you happy?" He tugged his arm free of her hold and grabbed his leather jacket before walking towards the door as Rebekah smirked and allowed a snort to escape her lips as she began giggling.

"You're whipped." Klaus groaned, his phone began ringing causing him to stop as he saw the unknown caller's number.

"Hello?" Klaus' brow furrowed at the caller's voice and swallowed hard as he listened to their words.

_**Later…**_

Liz watched as Caroline glared at her laptop screen with renewed irritation. "Seriously?!" She huffed, "The closest date for Disneyland is the 16th…I think I can make it work. If we go to New Orleans first and stay for a few weeks, then head down to Florida resort and stay there for a few days. You can get a tan whilst I look for our next destination." Liz smiled as she watched her daughter's organisation, it was a trait she most definitely had not learnt from either herself or her father. It was something she had developed herself. "Mom?" Liz blinked up, "How does that sound, I mean it's fine if you want to start at Disneyland before, I'm sure I can postpone-"

"It's perfect, Caroline." Liz smiled softly as she handed her a mug of hot chocolate.

"Thanks mom," Caroline took a sip, "hmm you know what would go really well with these, those chocolate chip cookies I made." The blond vampire got up and made her way to the kitchen as Liz glanced at her daughter.

"Sweetie, could you put the bins out as well?" Liz asked as she got up slowly and moved towards the door.

"Sure." Liz heard the kitchen door click shut as Caroline left whilst she opened the front door to reveal Klaus.

"Hello Sheriff." He said with a genuine smile before his eyes fell on her fingers which rested on the holster holding her gun. Liz's eyes were hard as she stepped aside and allowed him in.

"Klaus." The hybrid glanced around noticing Caroline's absence. "She's not here." His eyes betrayed the panic he felt at Caroline already being gone before he composed himself again.

"Elijah said you wanted to speak-"

"_Niklaus, it seems Sheriff Forbes needs to talk with you urgently, she suspects a pack of new wolves being in town and the cause of a few 'animal attacks' in the area. Do pay her a visit, think of it as a favour repaid seeing as she helped with the unfortunate incidence of the cure."_

"-about a certain issue of wolves in town?" Klaus said as Liz closed the door behind him.

"Yes, follow me Klaus." Liz said as she walked past him and up the stairs, Klaus pursed his lips as he did as the human said, she led him past Caroline's room where Klaus had the urge to freeze and double check whether she had left for good or if there was still some hope of her returning. "I've got some pictures of the wounds on the dresser…" Liz gestured towards the evidence nodding for Klaus to get it himself. He walked towards the pictures tracing his fingers across the wounds as he pursed the lips.

_Click._

He turned swiftly hearing the door click shut, he observed no one else in the room. Not even Liz. He narrowed his eyes before looking around the room for any signs of a trap but saw none, it was just a plain room filled with pictures. Walking towards the door he tried to open it and failed miserably.

Klaus gritted his teeth and let out a huff of air, "Sheriff Forbes, what is the meaning of this?!" He hissed as he could hear her rapid heartbeat on the other side of the room slowly fading away as she moved away from the door.

He tried to open the door again as he rattled the handle but there was no use, he got out his phone as he turned back to the pictures which lay on the dresser. _It must be some sort of trap, maybe Rebekah was right. Maybe this was all a ploy for Caroline to get back into her friends' good books. _

"Elijah, get to the Forbes' house, it seems we've been led into a trap."

"_Niklaus, calm down, this is for your own good." _

"What?! You knew? Why?"

"_Trust me Niklaus, Sheriff Forbes has her daughter's and, believe it or not, your best interests at heart. Goodbye"_

"Elijah?!" Klaus hissed into his phone before allowing a growl to echo through the room. He pocketed his phone before slamming his hand on the dresser on top of the pictures, wondering what the hell was going on.

_**Whilst…**_

"Mom, seriously, I'm certain I put your old badge in your room. It's in the box labelled 'memories'." Caroline said as Liz looked at her sheepishly.

"Sweetie, I've tried looking everywhere and it's not there, you _were _the one who organised my entire room." Liz pointed out causing Caroline to sigh.

"Fine…I'll get it and then you'll see that my organisation skills are completely on point." Caroline said over her shoulder as she walked towards her mother's room and opened the door stepping in as she grazed the wall for the light switch allowing the door to shut behind her.

She flicked it on becoming startled by the person before her.

"Klaus?"

"Caroline?"

"What are you doing here?-"

"I thought you left?-"

Both vampires heard a click by the door and Caroline spun round to open it but couldn't even with her vampire strength.

"I think your mother and my older brother make an excellent team, quite the conspirators…"

"You've got to be kidding me…" The younger blonde turned slowly to face the Original hybrid.

Silence fell between them once again, neither being able to think of what to say, but Caroline being the control freak she was couldn't stand it. She spun round and began pounding on the door.

"Mom! Mom why the hell is he here?! Mom let me out!" She shouted through the barrier as she hammered her hands against the wood. She could hear Klaus begin to snigger causing her to scoff and turn back to him. "This isn't funny!" He tried to stifle the grin which was threatening to be displayed across his lips.

"I know, I know." Caroline glared at him as a chuckle left his mouth.

"Then stop laughing!" Klaus couldn't help but try to compose himself under Caroline's deadly glare before the blonde herself began nibbling at her lower lip trying to prevent a smile from betraying her sternness.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked redirecting her thoughts. Klaus grin fell as he realised the reality of the situation.

"Well, Elijah called asking me to speak to your mother about a few animal attacks occurring so I came, your mother led me here," he gestured to the pictures on the dresser, "and then left consequently trapping me in this room. Then you came in ad here we are." He then gestured to the situation itself before confusion passed across his face. "Care to explain what you're doing here, love?"

"I live here." Caroline retorted wearing an expression clearly conveying the words- _like duh I live here, dude._

"You're mother said you had left," she shook her head, "but I couldn't sense you in the house?"

"I was in the garden of course you couldn't sense m-wait, my mom and your brother pulled this off." Caroline narrowed her eyes. "It was all a ploy, put the bins out, and find my mom's badge." Caroline nodded seeming impressed. "For a Sheriff, mom, you certainly know how to manipulate people!" Caroline shouted knowing that her mother would hear if she was listening in to the conversation. Her suspicion was confirmed as both heard a quite laugh on the other side of the door.

Caroline rolled her eyes before they settled back on Klaus who was simply staring at her. "So want to explain why your mother would do this?"

"I have no idea." Caroline answered as Klaus tilted his head.

"Well then what do you suppose we do seeing as we somehow can't leave the room even with vampire-hybrid strength?" Caroline shrugged but they were interrupted by a voice on the other side of the door.

"I suppose you could both talk." Liz said, "I'll be just downstairs so you can have your space."

"We don't need to talk-"Caroline began arguing.

"That wasn't what you said before, sweetie." Liz's voice sang before it trailed off hinting that she was gone from outside of the door.

Klaus watched the blush creep up on Caroline's cheeks and couldn't help but wonder how far down her body it went whilst Caroline cleared her throat as she saw his eyes wander down her body.

"Hey, buddy, my eyes are up here." She said bringing his azure blue orbs back to her cornflower blues.

"So what do you think we need to talk about?" Klaus asked as he peaked up his eyebrow in curiosity.

"Nothing, my mom was wrong, we don't need to talk about anything so…" the blonde turned to open the door but noticed the piece of paper slid under the door, picking it up she read, "the door is magically sealed until you talk everything through in which case it will unlock. Courtesy of Elijah and his witch friends." Caroline scoffed before looking at Klaus.

"You were right, my mom, your brother seriously are quite the duo. I'd be impressed if I wasn't so annoyed."

"Well you heard them love, let's talk." Caroline rolled her eyes as he leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed.

"We have nothing to talk about." He pursed his lips.

"Are you still leaving?" Caroline leaned back against the opposite wall before nodding.

"There's nothing left for me here, my mom's retired and I've accepted into quite a few colleges outside of Mystic Falls." Klaus nodded finding no surprise into her acceptances, knowing she was extremely bright.

"Which colleges?" Caroline narrowed her eyes.

"Why?" Klaus shrugged.

"Can't I take an interest in your future?" Caroline raised her eyebrow.

"Since when do you take an interest in anyone's future unless it benefits you?"

"Since a certain someone technically saved my life." That shut Caroline up, the previous banter had taken her mind off the issue in hand and now it was back full force.

"I didn't save your life, I saved my own." Klaus scoffed.

"Why do you do that?" Caroline lifted her brow in curiosity. "Cover our connection with hostility." The blonde scoffed.

"We don't have a connection." Klaus narrowed his eyes.

"You're doing it even know, even when no one can see us." He moved closer trying to read her. "I want to know why, why you choose to spit your callous words at me and then turn around to help me. I don't understand."

"You're deluding yourself." Caroline answered through clenched teeth whilst Klaus shook his head and lost all cockiness.

"No. You saved me, you asked me to _run _with you, if you hated me that much why not just take the cure from under their noses rather than come to me and say the things you said. You asked me to leave _with _you, why would you do that if you felt nothing for me." He moved closer.

"You're wrong-"

"They came into the house threatening me and you told me to stay back, you were trying to stop them from hurting _me."_

"I was saving myself-"

"We kissed." Both stilled inches from each other as they both let that sink in. "And you kissed me back." Caroline shook her head.

"_You _kissed _me._"

"And _you _kissed me _back."_ He stepped closer as she stepped back. "Why would you do that if you felt _nothing?" _Caroline bit her lip as she avoided his eyes but she couldn't as he placed his hands against the wall beside her caging her in and catching her eyes with his. "Tell me. Make me understand because I…can't." He pinned her down with his eyes, "What are you trying to do to me sweetheart?" He whispered.

Caroline felt herself tremble against the wall as she could feel his peppermint breath fan across her lips and cheek, his words sounded so vulnerable and dare she say…_needy? _His eyes conveyed the pure vulnerability he felt, such a rare if not impossible sight.

"Nothing…I'm not trying to do anything…" she stuttered under his close proximity with his scent blocking her senses. "I-I…I saved you because it was the right thing to do." She whispered.

"Do you regret it? Helping me?" Caroline's brow furrowed as she thought about it. Not helping him would have led to everyone being human, herself included. Not saving him would have meant having a family of her own. _Not _saving him would have made him weak and hunted by hundreds if not thousands of supernatural beings. Did she regret it? Did she regret not taking the chance to weaken him after everything he had done, after killing Jenna, Elena, Tyler's mom? After saving her from Alaric, saving her from the wolf bite, accepting her as she was, offering her the world?

"No…" she whispered, "No, I don't regret it." His eyes dilated.

"And the kiss, do you regret that?" He murmured, Caroline swallowed the lump in her throat. Caroline's mouth opened and closed not being able to answer that and she saw the sadness emanate from his eyes before glazing over with hard covers. He let his hands slide down before pulling completely away from her. He looked around the room, avoiding Caroline's eyes.

Caroline watched him pull away from her and couldn't help but think back to the moment when they had kissed. His burning touch, a euphoric taste, his lips colliding with hers, the passion, the need, the _want._

"No" his eyes snapped back to hers seeing the pure determination within them, "No" she whispered before repeating herself with a stronger voice, "No." She pushed herself off the wall and strode towards him placing her hands against his chest before pushing him back against the wall, he grasped her wrists wondering what the hell she was doing.

"Caro-"His words were smothered as she shook off his hand and placed it against his mouth stopping him form talking. He watched her with eyes sharp as knives as she stepped closer minimising the distance between them, their chest touched just as their legs did and the only gap between them was the barrier which Caroline had created between their lips.

"I was accepted to New York, Charleston, Chicago and Tulane. I have nothing left in in this town. I want to travel the world, I want to see _everything, _all the beauty and the culture. I want _all of it." _Her hand began sliding across his lips leaving only her fingers splayed over them keeping him from saying anything. "I'm leaving because I want to, because I've realised that everything in this world doesn't rest with anyone in this town except for myself and my mom. I've made my choice, hell I made it the moment I _chose _you. I was selfish. I asked you to leave with me and you dropped everything in a moment's notice. I asked you to let them go even though they tried to kill you and you did. You made sure I was safe before saving yourself." Her breath came out in pants as she finished, her fingers slipped form his lips up to his cheek as she scratched his scruff lightly. "I'm not trying to do anything to you, I'm not playing you and I'm sorry that I kept sending you mixed signals but I couldn't make a choice not when I felt so…so comfortable in my life. But when I did, I chose you." Caroline swallowed before leaning in closer, missing his lips and settling hers against his ear. "I don't regret _anything." _She whispered into his ear feeling the shiver which ran down his spine. Klaus closed his eyes in relief hearing her words, he slowly slid his hands along her waist and rubbed his thumb along her bare skin on her lower back. She moved her face back brushing her cheek against his, he tilted his face letting his lips graze her cheek before they hit the corner of her lip, and Caroline moved her head so that there was a hair's breadth between them, their noses brushed against the others and their breath lingered and mixed between them. Caroline's eyes fluttered closed as did Klaus' whilst they both leaned in allowing their foreheads to meet, she let the hand which rested on his cheek slip down towards his ear before sliding down to his neck when he froze suddenly.

Caroline's eyes snapped open as she felt the immediate tension and she eyes him curiously before connecting the dots. Her hand on his neck. An easy snap. She began shaking her head, "I wouldn't-"she began pulling her hands away from him before he grasped her wrists and placed them back on his neck slowly as he kept his eyes on hers showing his complete trust in her.

"I trust you…" Caroline eyes filled with tears as she heard him, the pure honesty in his voice hit Caroline. Hard. She let out a shaky breath before letting Klaus place her hands back on his neck. The blonde nodded slowly as she flickered her eyes between his eyes and his lips. One hand slid from his neck into his hair whilst the other went back around the nape of neck which she slowly moved towards her. She felt Klaus' hands move around her back holding her gently, the burn as his fingers brushed against her bare skin, the tingling of her lips as his raspberry lips touched hers. The touch had started off slow, both testing the waters, the kiss before being a quick preview whilst this would be savouring the moment, the taste, the passion, the _heat. _

They moulded to each other, both orientating to keep themselves locked together. Caroline tilted her head as Klaus swiped his tongue against her lips asking for entrance which she allowed letting him in to taste the sweetness on her tongue from the hot chocolate, whilst she could taste the sweet but bitter scotch on his. Her fingers glided through his curls latching onto them as she felt the softness of his hair whilst he slid his hand from her waist up against her body to run his fingers into her soft waves pinning them back as he let his hand rest behind her head keeping her lips to him.

Caroline's thoughts came up to blank as she allowed herself to get lost in the tantalising kiss, her blood began to burn through her veins as her head was hit with bright lights in the darkness, before she knew it Klaus had spun them around so that Caroline was pinned to the wall with no way out as the battle for dominance continued between their tongues, they ravaged the other wanting to consume them. The feeling was thrilling, overwhelming, and_ all-consuming. _

The kiss simmered down, ever so slowly, but surely. Hands were still entangled finding something, anything, to grasp onto, to feel, to pull, to hold. Their lips parted leaving tiny butterfly kisses as they let their heads rest with breaths coming out in pants to linger in the in-between.

"So…Tulane, hmm?" Klaus said in a raspy voice as Caroline was filled with pride to be able to make the Original hybrid's breathe lag.

"Mmm, what about it?" She murmured before he pressed a lingering kiss on her swollen lips.

"Funny story…"She let a breathy giggle escape.

"What? Don't tell me you're the mayor of New Orleans." She said mockingly whilst regaining her breath, he chuckled heartily.

"More like King, sweetheart." She gripped his shoulders and leaned back looking at him with a tilt of her head and wide eyes.

"Seriously?!" He smirked.

"Seriously." He murmured as he pulled her back slowly. She smirked at him seeing the honesty in his eyes.

"You're going to have to show me around, your majesty." She said in a breathy whisper causing Klaus' jeans to tighten before he comprehended her sentence.

_She wanted him to go with her._

"You still want me to go with you?" She grazed her fingertips down his cheek before tracing his soft lips.

"I want you. End of." His lips turned up into a smirk

"You have me." She grinned back at him.

"Good."

"Good…" He grinned into their next kiss as they giggled breathlessly between kisses separated with longing and want before a knock erupted them.

"Niklaus?" Elijah's voice rang through the door. "Are you decent?"

"Decent, why would they not be decent?" Liz asked with a stern voice on the same side as Elijah.

Caroline rolled her eyes with a shake of her head as she giggled resting her lips against Klaus' neck tucking herself into his body as his hand tucked a strand of her golden hair behind her ear. He wrapped his arms around her body hugging her to him placing a soft kiss against her hair before resting his head on top of hers.

"You don't think they planned _this, _right?" Caroline whispered.

"I wouldn't put it past them." Klaus chuckled as he ran his hand through her hair.

"Hmm, who would have known, my mom and your brother Klaroline shippers." Klaus raised a perplexed brow.

"Klaroline shippers?" Caroline shook her head against his neck.

"You have so much to learn." She said against his skin.

"Well I'll enjoy learning it from you." He replied loving the feel of her body against him.

"And here I thought a _King _didn't bow down to anyone?" She asked sarcastically pulling her head back with raised eyebrows. He chuckled as he brushed his thumb over her lower lips.

"Only for his _Queen." _He murmured as he moved closer. "Only for you."

**So I originally intended for this to be a three shot with the next chapter being set in New Orleans but I think the ending for this seems already final enough and any further chapters that I wrote would just be poor add-ons that wouldn't fit well. I'm sorry for all the time that I kept you hanging on awaiting a new chapter.**

**I hope you liked this two shot instead:D**


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